Estes Park school resource officer reinstated

Superintendent: Park R-3 benefits from official campus presence

By Juley Harvey Trail-Gazette

Posted:
11/30/2012 09:19:18 AM MST

Reinstating the position of school resource officer (SRO), a police presence on campus, will help the Park R-3 school district maintain a safe school environment, superintendent Patrick Hickey told the school board at its work session on Monday. The SRO position was cut from the district budget last year. The town previously had helped fund the position dedicated to the district. The school district will now absorb some cost, Hickey said.

Do we need the SRO? We need an officer immediately, when something goes wrong, Hickey said, and that officer also will do preventive work and public relations.

In a memo to the school board, Hickey wrote: "In accordance with Executive Directive 11 regarding school safety, I have been conducting regularly scheduled meetings with chief Wes Kufeld of the Estes Park Police Department. We have agreed that it would be in our mutual interest to reinstitute the position of School Resource Officer on our campus.... This position was eliminated as part of budget reduction measures. It is not currently part of the FY2013 approved budget. I believe the difference between our fiscal year (July through June) and the town's fiscal year (January through December) presents an opportunity to contribute to the cost of SRO services during our end of year fiscal reconciliations. "I believe we can effectively make an annual contribution of $20,000 toward the expenses the town will incur by providing the dedicated SRO position to our district," Hickey wrote.

Although he told the board there are a variety of opinions concerning the process, he believes the district benefits from the presence of an SRO on campus.

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Relationships can be built that are helpful, and the district will be showing children a laudable career. There will be a quicker response when things are not going well, and it will be in the interest of the police department, as well, to have a presence among 1,200 people on campus -- a large segment of the community, Hickey observed. It is a position the district can afford, he stated. The town believes in the idea significantly, and Hickey said, "We're in this together."

In providing financial input, the district has a vested say, and is more a partner than a consumer, Hickey said. It's in the best interest of the students, he added. You won't necessarily know if an event was prevented, because of the SRO presence, but you'll also never know whether the SRO presence might've stopped something before it happened, he said.

"I want to focus on the positive relationship," he said.

Hickey anticipates positive interaction on all levels, and does not anticipate a lot of arrests. Rather, he said, he is happy if the SRO never finds anything wrong -- as with the Sherlock Hounds drug-sniffing dogs that are brought in for spot checks. Deterring wrong behavior and encouraging right behavior is the goal, so that the kids can lead happy, healthy lives; it is a win for all, Hickey said.